Founders

All members of the start up team are deeply committed to the communities in which they work: they have either been born and raised there, currently live there, or have established a business there. All of City Growers’ partners have proven track records in enterprise development, land acquisition and land conversion to agriculture and to public open spaces.

The City Growers Cooperative founders include two Boston residents who are passionate about improving city residents’ health, education and well-being. They share the same vision: to bring a portion of the hundreds of acres laying fallow in Boston into production as a significant source of nutritious food and green-collar jobs for local residents.

In summer 2009, the founders committed themselves to regenerating city land for sustainable agricultural enterprise, focusing on developing and supporting successful urban growers.

GLYNN LLOYD

Glynn Lloyd is a Co-founder of City Growers, LLC and Chief Executive Officer of City Fresh Foods, which provides economical meals to local schools, childcare centers and homebound elders. He co-founded City Growers with a vision of providing local retailers, restaurants and residents the option of buying their fresh produce from local, sustainable farms in Boston rather than large corporate farms across the country.

Prior to starting City Fresh Foods in 1994, Glynn was an educator in Boston and Louisiana public schools. He has served as Board Chair of The Food Project, Lincoln MA, and Four Corners Main Streets, Dorchester, and as Board Member of Red Tomato, Canton MA. He is currently a Fellow at Boston Rising, an anti- poverty initiative of the Ethos Foundation and on the Advisory Board Lead Boston – an organization that focuses their work on social justice.

Click here to read an article by Glynn on socially responsible business practices.

MARGARET CONNORS

City Growers co-Founder Margaret Connors served eight years as Wellness Coordinator at a local Boston Public School, where she actively advocates for more nutritious food in schools. Her inspiration for City Growers is to grow food within the city limits to help meet the nutritional needs of urban residents and develop a new green economy in the heart of the city.

Margaret brings to City Growers over 20 years of experience in advocating for public health issues in diverse communities through consulting and community organizing; she also has a successful track record with implementing environmental health campaigns. She is Co-Founder and Principal of Arbor Consulting Partners which helps communities, organizations and institutions achieve better social and health outcomes. She is co-Founder and Director of the Neighborhood Pesticide Action Committee (NPAC), which has successfully reduced pesticide use in Boston parks. As a natural science and wellness educator in the Boston Public Schools, Margaret co-founded the Boston Young Naturalist Explorations, which is currently developing a young naturalist guide for The Boston Public Garden. She established a community-wide fruit orchard in her Boston neighborhood that has encouraged community reciprocity and facilitated local food production. Prior to her current entrepreneurial endeavors, she worked as an HIV prevention researcher among illicit drug users in Worcester and Boston.

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Urban Farming Conference

The annual Massachusetts Urban Farming Conference (UFC) is designed to advance the opportunities and address the barriers involved in cultivating a thriving urban farming sector. The UFC is a forum to share information regarding what is currently happening in Boston and other local urban communities and to map out a vision for urban farming in Massachusetts. Boston and other local urban communities in Massachusetts have the potential to offer a fresh, local healthy food supply while promoting economic and environmental sustainability, as well as healthy communities, employment at livable wages, food security, youth engagement and more.

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